TSM downgrade and Astralis is born!

Well this has definitely been an interesting week for Esports, we saw the very well-known organization in TSM downgrade heavily from a top tier team, while their former players ventured out and formed an organization of their own by securing private investment. So what does this do for the guys emptying their pockets? Who had the better deal and who drew the short end of stick? Let’s take a look.

The new TSM

First up let’s take a look at the new TSM, after dropping a Tier 1 team with in former lineup, the North American organization decided to stick to their region this time. Eventually picking out the following squad of:

Now looking at this lineup alone, one thing becomes fairly clear that the raw talent level is not even in the same ball park as the old. People like Semphis and FNS are there to add stability and experience into the team alongside their standard traits, while young guns like Autimatic, Sick and Vice are meant to provide the firepower and freshness. However unlike the previous Danish lineup which constantly made top 4 in notable tournaments and was always a threat to others, we don’t really see this one even being a top 2 North American team, let alone compete against other Tier 1 teams. The only interesting addition here is actually Soham as the coach, as he was a retired player back in 2015 who was known to have a more strategic mindset, so if he can steer this team in the right direction then maybe it can compete against the likes of Cloud9 and, Liquid and CLG for the top places in NA based tournament and leagues. Expect to see an attempt at a more explosive style for the new TSM during their debut at MLG Columbus 2016 last chance qualifiers tomorrow.

Astralis, a new beginning

After getting multiple offers from many different organizations, the Danish squad decided that securing private funds and creating a team of their own was the better way to go. In their official interview the players stated that they were being paid more than ever with this new built org at $9,000 a month, excluding travel payments and sticker money.

They also added some unnamed organization also offered them more, but weren’t transparent enough, which eventually lead them to decide that having a brand of their own would be a fresh start that would give them further motivation to get better and finally become the best team in the world. So now the new Astralis CS GO team consists of:

Rene “cajunb” Borg

Finn “karrigan” Andersen

Nicolaj “devve” Reedtz

Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen

Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth

Unlike the new TSM lineup, there really isn’t much doubt when it comes to this squad’s performance. These guys are without a doubt one of the most consistent team to ever play CS GO and their amazing run of 16 top 4 finishes in a year remains a thing of legend. Their only weakness if any is the fact that they seem to choke out a bit against certain teams, namely NIP and EnvyUS during major tournaments where the stakes are at their highest. Who knows maybe the addest mental boost from having a share on their own new org will be enough to finally give them the edge necessary to push that extra bit and win the big one.

Right now a major tournament win is the only accomplishment that this Danish squad does not have. Expect Astralis to come guns blazing during the Major at MLG Columbus, which is set to take place on March 29th– April 3rd. If they can finally overcome their semifinal fright, then we might just have a new contender for the best team at the start of this year.

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